The EMERGE framework to measure empowerment for health and development.

Rationale: Women's empowerment is a UN Sustainable Development Goal and a focus of global health and development but survey measures and data on gender empowerment remain weak. Existing indicators are often disconnected from theory; stronger operationalization is needed.

Objective: We present the EMERGE Framework to Measure Empowerment, a framework to strengthen empowerment measures for global health and development.

Validation of the Fertility Norms Scale and Association with Fertility Intention and Contraceptive Use in India.

Social norms related to fertility may be driving pregnancy desire, timing and contraceptive use, but measurement has lagged. We validated a 10-item injunctive Fertility Norms Scale (FNS) and examined its associations with family planning outcomes among 1021 women and 1020 men in India. FNS captured expectations around pronatalism, childbearing early in marriage and community pressure.

Factors affecting delayed and non-receipt of healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic for women in rural Maharashtra, India: Evidence from a cross-sectional study.

Background: Pathways to low healthcare utilisation under the COVID-19 pandemic are not well understood. This study aims to understand women's concerns about the health system's priorities and their increased burden of domestic responsibilities during COVID-19 as predictors of delayed or non-receipt of needed care for themselves or their children.

Methods: We surveyed married women in rural Maharashtra, India (N = 1021) on their health and economic concerns between Feb 1 and March 26, 2021.

Qualitative Examination of the Role and Influence of Mothers-in-Law on Young Married Couples' Family Planning in Rural Maharashtra, India.

Unmet need for family planning (FP) continues to be high in India, especially among young and newly married women. Mothers-in-law (MILs) often exert pressure on couples for fertility and control decision making and behaviors around fertility and FP, yet there is a paucity of literature to understand their perspectives. Ten focus group discussions (FGDs) were carried out with MILs of young married women (aged 18-29 years) participating in a couple-focused FP intervention as a part of a cluster-randomized intervention evaluation trial (the CHARM2 study) in rural Maharashtra, India.

COVID-19-Related Financial Hardship, Job Loss, and Mental Health Symptoms: Findings from a Cross-Sectional Study in a Rural Agrarian Community in India.

Several countries, including India, imposed mandatory social distancing, quarantine, and lockdowns to stop the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Although these measures were effective in curbing the spread of the virus, prolonged social distancing, quarantine, and the resultant economic disruption led to an increase in financial stress and mental health concerns. Prior studies established a link between the first lockdown and an increase in mental health issues.

Household sanitation access and risk for non-marital sexual violence among a nationally representative sample of women in India, 2015-16.

Background: Lack of household sanitation, specifically toilet facilities, can adversely affect the safety of women and girls by requiring them to leave their households to defecate alone and at night, leaving them more vulnerable to non-marital sexual violence. This study analyzes the association between household sanitation access and past year victimization from non-marital sexual violence (NMSV) in India.

Methods: We analyzed 74,698 women age 15-49 from whom information on NMSV was collected in India's National Family Health Survey 2015-16 (NFHS-4).

Erratum to "Sport as a vehicle of change for livelihoods, social participation and marital health for the youth: Findings from a prospective cohort in Bihar, India" [EClinicalMedicine 20 (2020) 100302].

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1016/j.eclinm.

Sport as a vehicle of change for livelihoods, social participation and marital health for the youth: Findings from a prospective cohort in Bihar, India.

Background: Adolescent participation in pro-social activities such as sport can promote identity formation, self-efficacy and social support, but its benefits in India remain unassessed. We examined longitudinal effects of adolescent sport participation on economic, social and political engagement, marital health and family planning among young adults in India.

Methods: We analyzed prospective data from unmarried adolescents ( = 2,322, ages 15-19) who participated in the 2007-8 study (wave 1) and were followed in the study 2015-16 (wave 2), in Bihar, India.

Gender Differences in the Associations Between Informal Caregiving and Wellbeing in Low- and Middle-Income Countries.

Health risks among informal caregivers have received inadequate attention in low and middle income countries. We examined cross-sectional data from 28611 adults 18 years and older in Ghana, India, Mexico, Russia and South Africa in the WHO Study on Global AGEing and Adult Health (SAGE) to examine gender differences in informal caregiving and wellbeing. Wellbeing was measured by self-rated health, difficulties with tasks, self-reported and diagnosed depression and anxiety.

Experiences with and expectations of maternity waiting homes in Luapula Province, Zambia: a mixed-methods, cross-sectional study with women, community groups and stakeholders.

Background: Luapula Province has the highest maternal mortality and one of the lowest facility-based births in Zambia. The distance to facilities limits facility-based births for women in rural areas. In 2013, the government incorporated maternity homes into the health system at the community level to increase facility-based births and reduce maternal mortality.

Community health workers provide integrated community case management using malaria rapid diagnostic test kits.

Background: Throughout Nigeria malaria is an endemic disease. Efforts to treat malaria can also be combined with other illnesses including pneumonia and diarrhea, which are killing children under five years of age. The use of Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDT) aids early diagnosis of malaria and informs when other illnesses should be considered.

Underreporting and Missed Opportunities for Uptake of Intermittent Preventative Treatment of Malaria in Pregnancy (IPTp) in Mali.

Objectives: To identify factors contributing to low uptake of intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in pregnancy with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (IPTp-SP) in rural Mali.

Methods: We conducted secondary data analysis on Mali's 2012-2013 Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) to determine the proportion of women who failed to take IPTp-SP due to ineligibility or non-attendance at antenatal care (ANC). We also identified the proportion who reported taking other or unknown medications to prevent malaria in pregnancy and those who did not know if they took any medication to prevent malaria in pregnancy.

"There is no free here, you have to pay": actual and perceived costs as barriers to intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in pregnancy in Mali.

Background: "There is no free here," the words of a Malian husband, illustrate how perceptions of cost can deter uptake of intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in pregnancy (IPTp). The Malian Ministry of Health (MOH) recommends a minimum of three doses of IPTp at monthly intervals. However, despite a national policy that IPTp be provided free of charge, only 35% of pregnant women receive at least one dose and less than 20% receive two or more doses.